Sherrill compact served as model

City of Oneida Mayor Leo Matzke and Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter shake hands during a press conference to announce the compact between the city and tribe parties on March 20, 2006 at Oneida City Hall.
Dispatch Staff Photo by JOHN HAEGER

SHERRILL - The unprecedented agreement between the city of Sherrill and the Oneida Indian Nation will continue for another five years.

The original agreement, signed in October of 2005, required the Nation to pay nearly $60,000 in property taxes dating back to 1997 and continue to pay all current and future property taxes. The compact also stipulates that the Nation abide by all city codes and that any disagreements between the two parties be settled through binding arbitration to avoid further litigation.

Any land taken into trust by the U.S. Department of Interior is exempt from the terms of the compact. No land has been put into trust since the inception of the agreement.

The compact was automatically renewed, Comis said. If the city or the Nation decided to withdrawal from the agreement, action to do so would've been required 90 days prior to its renewal in September. According to Comis, neither party has withdrawn from the agreement, continuing its standing.

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"It's been fine," he said of the agreement. "The compact was followed by both parties."

Calling it a "pretty fundamental" agreement, Comis said the compact outlines the Nation's willingness to follow the same procedures for inspections, zoning, planning and payment of taxes that all other tax-paying residents do.

"It's like any other property-tax-paying agency," he said.

According to City Clerk and Comptroller Michael Holmes, the city received about $10,400 this year in property taxes from the Nation for its 12 parcels.